Happy Friday the 13th!
There are a lot of interesting things going on in this Thayer letter. The first paragraph alone is advertising gold:Read the rest of this letter. It should not take you more than two minutes and if it will only save you one dollar, that will make your time worth while.I've always wondered what my time was worth. Thanks, Thayer Manufacturing!
The weekly newspaper of the Catholic archdiocese had been produced at a scab shop since the start of a printers’ strike in 1921. The printers had learned from Archbishop Dowling that he would prefer it be produced by union labor -- if they could find a suitable place to handle the job.
The second page has this cut panel taped over the top of the letter, reestablishing the time frame the receipt has to answer the ad, and I love the closing line:Act now and you will make some real money- otherwise the other fellow wins.Ominous!
This is a fun little add- fool police AND your friends! I wonder if my Grandfather clipped it out as a child to maybe save up for it one day. I didn't find anything online that would tell me what the Claxophone was, but if you want to read about the klaxophone, you can via wikipedia.
A real improvement on the trick was devised by that graceful and brilliant performer, Mr. Karl Germain, whose retirement from the stage is regretted by all who have had the pleasure of witnessing his performance.
In his version, a single uncovered flower pot stood on a table. Standing near it Germain began to fan the pot, when gradually there appeared to spring from it a few leaves. These were followed by buds, and then the plant increased in height until it was fifteen to eighteen inches above the top of the pot. That the flowers on it were real there could be no doubt, for the performer cut them off and distributed them to the ladies in the audience.
Also, a big thank you to Joseph from The Conjuring Arts Research Center who was able to shed a little light on the mostly unknown life of Louis F. Christianer! You can read the updated entry here, via MagicPedia- and there is even a picture of the man! The entry says he died young, which may explain why his name make a more substantial mark in the magic community.
Your eyes are not playing tricks on you- this really looks like it was typed on a typewriter with a rounded surface. This is a fun letter from Alexander- he is selling our previously researched Luminous Ouija Board! And from what I can tell with a basic magnifying glass, that is a real ink signature!
...and we're done with the entire booklet! Tomorrow I have the last page to scan, which is interesting for the artwork & such, but still no date on any of it! Anyone have any guesses?
Here we have the first page of the trick. I am wondering is this is younger than the original version I wrote about yesterday, just because of the fonts and style used- it just looks newer than 1918.
This cool little box is about 4x3.5x1 inches. The picture on top is inlaid, and the back of the box has a simple flower motif with some butterflies. I am not a wood expert, but it feels very light and a little fragile.
You can repeat the process to make the object reappear.
When I first unfolded this article and read it, I was curious to go and learn more about Kadu. In researching all of these items I had never come across his name- I thought I had a new magician to introduce to everyone! It would appear, however, that Kadu is simply a fictional magician created to teach children magic tricks through story telling. I don't see any more Kadu stories in the clippings... I wonder how long his run lasted in the local papers!
Patent Pending!
Jumbo's story did not end after he died. Barnum, always quick to take advantage of a situation, had him stuffed and put on display at the Tufts museum. What happened next was the subject of a recent short documentary that was also a tribute to the filmmaker Chelsea Spear's father. You can read more about her work on the project via this Boston.com article.
The author, Hereward Carrington, was a prolific writer. He published over 100 books on psychic phenomenon, magic acts, and 'alternative health issues'. You can buy reprints of his books around the web- the one I recognized first from the inner flap was The Boys Book of Magic.
But Gilbert was also a brilliant student, and soon went on to Yale Medical School. He helped pay his tuition by performing as a magician, and founded a company, Mysto Manufacturing, which sold magic kits for kids. In 1908, he took time out to compete in the IV. Olympiad in London, England, and came home with the gold medal in the pole vault --- thanks in part to a new, spike-less bamboo pole that he was the first Olympian to use.This man was busy! He also went on to create the Erector sets- the first advertised toy and one of the most popular toys of all time. You can read about the Erector sets via Girders and Gears.
I recognize a few of the card trick packets from my collection, but I do not see the rest- especially the little balls & cups.
Coulon's performance will probably start another craze, for in every place where two or more people come together they will be waiting to try to do the "bet-you-can't-lift-me" stunt.The trend that could have been.
From his mysterious “Foo Can” he would pour an endless stream of water. He could also blow smoke from his mouth that turned into streamers and even a nine foot pole, introduced “torn and restored paper” and conjured up his 3 year old daughter Chee Toy.
It is strange how some items in the collection practically turn to dust when you look at them, while others are so well preserved that I wouldn't believe how old this was if there wasn't a date on it. Nearly 90 years old, and there is little yellowing and the colors are still so bright!
It is in pencil and looks like an 'S' to me, but Magicpedia is telling me the founder's name was Floyd, so I will also have to investigate who the 'S' is!
